IMPERIAL VALLEY (San Diego RED) - Officers from the Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), seized nearly one million dollars in drugs. The first incident occurred Saturday, April 16 at the port of entry for Andrade. A CBP officer detected 11 packets of methamphetamine and four of cocaine inside a van. The total weight of narcotics was 23 pounds with a value of approximately $231,000.
The second incident occurred at 7:30 p.m. at the port of entry of at Centre de Calexico. Agents noted a nervous young man, 18, who attempted to cross via the pedestrian access. Officials also had suspicions regarding a lump seen tied at his waist. During an inspection, officers found three packages of methamphetamines. The drugs weighed four pounds with a value of approximately $ 44,000.
The third incident occurred at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 17 at the port of entry of Calexico. An agent’s canine alerted to the presence of drugs in a car. During an examination of the vehicle, 20 wrapped packages of methamphetamine were found hidden in a roof compartment. The 65 pounds of methamphetamine have a value of $715, 000. CBP officers arrested the driver of the car, 29, a citizen of the United States.

MONTERREY (San Diego RED) - Mexican Federal Police arrested 28 Central Americans in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, the capital of Northern Nuevo Leon State, while traveling on a bus headed to the U.S. border. A source at the Cruz Verde of Monterrey Association said the immigrants were arrested this morning on Libramiento Noreste road, north of the metropolitan area, on board an Ómnibus de México bus.
The Federal Police moved themigrants, mostly from Guatemalan to the headquarters of Cruz Verde, where they underwent medical assessment. After testing, the detainees were taken to the headquarters of the Instituto Nacional de Migración, where they will later be transported to the immigration station and deported to their countries of origin.
The bus left the central State of Michoacan heading to the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, where the criminal organization Los Zetas operates and is blamed for the abduction and massacre of immigrants. Mexican authorities say Los Zetas are responsible for shedding the most blood in Mexico. At least 72 migrants died last August, mostly Central American migrants, in the municipality of San Fernando when they refused to join their ranks. Another massacre of 145 people was found this month in a series of clandestine graves in San Fernando at U.S. border including one Guatemalan citizen. Los Zetas have emerged in the last decade as a group of elite military defectors waging a bloody struggle for control of drug routes.

TIJUANA (San Diego RED, Omar Millán) - The Mayor of Tijuana, Carlos Bustamante, yesterday said he feels concerned about the difficult situation faced by the families of 32 former Policía Municipal who were under federal investigation. The agents were arrested last July among a group of 62 State and municipal officials charged with organized crime and health offenses. They were subsequently imprisoned at Penal Villa Aldama, near PeroteVeracruz. However, the federal prosecutor's Office did not provide sufficient evidence and on April 7, they released the 32 officers who had worked at the Municipal police in Tijuana - some for more than 15 years.
Many even lacked fare back to the border. Some wives of officers stated that they had to sell belongings to survive without the policemen’s salary.
After they were released and reached the city, they began to have press conferences to talk about returning to their jobs and recovering their good names in the public that was damaged by their imprisonment.
The Secretary of administration and finance, Rufus Ibarra, on Monday said City Hall agreed to give each family of the former officers a check for 15,000 pesos ($1290), from an account they were each entitled. However, the amount offered was rejected on the recommendation of the officers’ legal representative.
Ibarra accepted that there are a number of inconsistencies in the treatment the former officers received, so they are reviewing their records to determine if there are any more benefits that they are entitled to, which varies.
The City Council will review each case and determine their due wages not received since July, according to the provisions of article 123 of the Constitution. The article provides: “If the judicial authority resolved that the separation, removal, reduction, cessation, or any other form of termination of service, was not justified the State will only be obligated to pay compensation and other benefits which they are entitled, unless in an appropriate case his reinstatement to the service, whatever the outcome of the trial.”
The Secretary of Seguridad Pública Municipal, Captain Gustavo Huerta, had already declared that it would be difficult to reinstatement all 32 agents to the Policía Municipal because “there is lost confidence”, and there is a legal clause that prevents him from doing so when an officer is involved in a complaint. Ibarra added it would be up to the City Council to determine the status of the released officers when they meet next week.